Double the Trouble
by LilacSky
Summary: Harry Potter attends his 6th year at Hogwarts. There he meet s two new transferred students. Voldemort's attacks have been getting closer and closer to the school since their arrival. Do they have anything to do with them? Or is it just coincidence?


Chapter 1: The New Students  
  
It was a rainy 1st of September. The water had ceased from pouring just a little while ago, but it was still cloudy and lightning came off every once in a while. The Hogwarts Express had reached its destination and three of its sixth year students were stepping off the train along with the other students. There were two boys and girl. "Home sweet home," said the Harry Potter. He had really messy, jet black hair and bright, emerald green eyes. They were, however, a little opaque by his round glasses. The scar in the middle of his forehead also took attention from the eyes. He was tall and strong, no longer the skinny little boy he used to be. "You're right, Harry," said the freckled faced, long nosed, red headed boy to his right, Ron Weasley. "Yeah," agreed Hermione Granger. She had dark brown hair, which used to be bushy but was now straight, and hazel eyes. She was slim and very pretty. "Let's get into a carriage, shall we?" she added. "You guys go ahead," Harry said suddenly. "I have to go see-I have to go. See you at the feast." He left, walking straight to the far end of the train while Hermione looked at Ron quizzically, but the latter one just shrugged.  
  
Meanwhile.  
  
"Duke!" a sixteen-year-old girl exclaimed. "How did he get up there?" she added, staring at her dog, which had somehow managed to end up on the train roof. "I'll get him for you, Alex," said the girl's twin sister. She started toward the train. "Arlenne? Wait! What are you going to do?!" But Arlenne was already climbing up the side of the train. No one but Alex noticed this so far because everyone was already getting in the carriages. No one, that is except for. "What are you doing up there?" called a guy's voice to Arlenne from the opposite side of the train from where Alex was standing. Arlenne looked down to find the cutest guy she had ever seen looking at her curiously. He's hot, she thought. "Trying to get my sister's dog back down," she called back to the stranger. "Oh. Need help?" "No, thanks. That's alright. I've got it under control." "Okay." She kept walking slowly to where Duke was, arms outstretched to her sides for balance, and spying on the black haired guy out of the corner of her eye. He was still looking up at her. When she reached the dog, it just looked up at her as if saying, " Do you have to meddle in my business always?" She just stared down at him and muttered under her breath, "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you do these things on purpose." She took out her wand, cleared her throat, and said loudly, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The dog was lifted into mid air. "Look out, Alex! Here he comes!" She directed the animal with the wand slowly till it was in his owner's arms. Arlenne, then, pocketed the wand and started walking back to the spot from where she had originally climbed up. All the while she was doing this she kept walking slightly to the her left because that was where the hot guy was. She was still watching him watch her out of the corner of her eye.  
  
"Where are you going?" Alex called. "To the easiest place from which I can get down," was the reply. "This train is soaked!" she exclaimed a little later. Suddenly there was a flash of lightning. It distracted Arlene for a couple of seconds, causing her accidentally step on a puddle of water from which she slipped. She tried to hold on to her balance, but couldn't. And since she was closer to the left than from the right, that's the side she fell to with a shriek. The guy tried to catch her with his arms, and he was able to. For a second or two he tried to gain back his balance as well, but the impact of her fall was stronger than him, and so they both fell to the ground. Arlenne, who had landed on top of him, was blushing furiously, and he, at the bottom, was staring up at her. "Oh, my God!" she said, apologetically while getting up. "I am so sorry." "You're from Britain, are you?" the boy said. She had just noticed the color of his eyes. They were as green as a pair of emeralds. "Sort of. Are you okay? I'm really sorry. I don't know what happened. One second I was walking, then the next I-" "Don't worry about it. It's alright," he said, straightening up. She got a glimpse of a lightning shaped scar on his forehead and instantly knew whom he was. Nevertheless, she still asked for his name. "Nice to meet you, Harry," she said in a casual manner, which, somehow, surprised Harry. She was one of the few people to ever greet him for the first time as the normal person he really was. "I'm Arlenne Delacour." "Are you, by any chance, related to a Fleur Delacour?" "She's my cousin. You know her?" "Arlenne! Are you okay?" It was Alex. She had just come running up to them, Duke at her heels. "Yeah. I'm fine thanks to Harry Potter here who has just saved my life." "Well. I wouldn't exactly call it-" Harry started to say modestly. "Nice to meet you, Harry. I'm Alex. Thanks for saving her. I swear, one of this days you're not going to be as lucky as usual and you're really going to get kill," she added to Arlenne, scornfully. "You have got to stop getting into all kinds of troubles all the time, you know." "I don't get in trouble all the time," Arlenne argued. "Only a little." Alex gave her a look. "Okay, maybe a lot." Harry found this funny, but didn't laugh, hence he did break the rules all the time himself. Instead, he said, "I think we should get into a carriage now or else we're going to have to walk to the castle and it's a mighty long walk." "Better listen to him. He's been here longer than us," Arlenne said to Alex. "What's that supposed to mean?" Harry said, jokingly, causing the girls to giggle. Once they were inside the only carriage left, Harry asked them, "So, where you guys from?" "We were transferred from Salem Academy for Witches in the U.S.," said Alex. It started raining again. "So, you're Americans." "No, not really. We were actually born here, but we've been living there since. well, since were eleven. I think five years was enough for us to lose our accent," said Arlenne. "Yep," agreed Alex. "Not entirely. Some of the words you say still sound like how we say it. But, how come you moved back here?" "We received a letter from Albus Dumbledore about three weeks ago. He wanted us to come Hogwarts. He never did say why, though. The day after we were already here," Alex said. "Seems we welcome change quickly, don't we?" "Your parents agreed to it that quickly?" said Harry astonished. He didn't have parents, but he'd bet that if anything like that happened to him his parents would think about it for a while. "Well. Not really," Arlenne said, uncomfortably. "Our parents are dead. They passed away many years ago." "Oh. Sorry. I didn't know." "That's okay." They reached the castle. All the students were already inside. The three of them rushed into the Entrance Hall. Standing there was none other than Albus Dumbledore himself. He smiled at the soaking trio. "Ah," he said,(as usual). "Miss Delacour number one and Miss Delacour number two," he added addressing them. "I see you have met Mr. Potter. Excellent." Arlenne and Alex just stared at him. "I have checked your marks at your old school," Dumbledore said. "I think it only too fitting that you both be made prefects like young Harry here." He beamed at them. "I supposed it'll be better if you are sorted right away before the first years. You don't mind, do you?" Neither Alex nor Arlene had the slightest idea of what he was talking about. They just shrugged, feeling stupid. "Ah, look it! Here comes Professor McGonnagall with the Sorting Hat," he said, looking past them. They and Harry turned around to find an old, strict looking woman holding a worn out old hat in her left hand approaching them. Once she got there she nodded towards Harry and said, "Potter, remind me to give you the password later." She turned to the girls. "You must be the Delacours, aren't you?" They nodded. "Right. Then let's get you both sorted now. It seems the first years are arriving a tad bit late."  
  
About a quarter of an hour later Ron was staring impatiently at the doors of the Great Hall, which remained still with no signs of the first years or Professor McGonnagall. "Where are they?" he said for the fiftieth time to Hermione. "I'm starving. And where's Harry?" At that moment the doors swung open. But to his and most of the other student's disappointment, it was only Dumbledore. But he wasn't alone. Harry and two other girls they didn't know followed him. Dumbledore led them up to the staff table. Then he stopped and turned to face the students. "Good evening," he said, smiling. "I know you are all hungry and are waiting for the first years arrival. But the rain seems to be presenting a problem to them and Hagrid outside in the lake. But meanwhile I will like to introduce you to two other new students. Everyone, meet Alexandria and Arlenne Delacour." There was short round of applause. "Also, I would like to inform you that are transferred students from The Salem Academy for Witches in America. They will be joining the sixth years in Gryffindor House. I hope that you will all make them feel right at home." There was another short round of applause. Then Harry led them to the Gryffindor Table to where Ron and Hermione were sitting. The entire Hall burst into chatter again. "Harry, where were you?" Ron said. "Helping them," Harry answered, nodding towards Arlenne and Alex who had taken a seat next to him. "Girls, meet one of my best friends, Ron Weasley, and my other best friend, Hermione Granger." "Hi, nice to meet you," the latter one said, smiling. "Hello," said Ron. He, too, was smiling. "Hey," the twins said in unison. Clearly, everyone here smiles a lot, thought Arlenne dully. The doors opened once more and this time it was McGonnagall and the first years, all of who were soaked. The sorting passed rather slowly. And,("At last," said Ron), the feast began. During the banquet a most of the Gryffindors introduced themselves to all of the new comers. Nearly Headless Nick even showed them his almost entirely severed neck. Other students from other houses, like Cho Chang, introduced themselves to Alex and Arlenne as well. When she came over, Harry had felt butterflies in his stomach as usual. (Arlenne noticed the look he had on his face while the Ravenclaw girl was present and had to fight back giggles.) "What's a prefect?" she asked Harry once he was back to his old self. "It's like. well. um, the point is you get to boss around students who aren't," he said, causing her to chuckle. When all the food had been wiped off the plates, Dumbledore stood up to say his usual announcements. "The Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to students. Mr. Filch." Blah, blah, blah. Everyone was filing out of the Hall now, each going in the direction of his or her common room. The Gryffindors followed their prefects to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Password?" she said. "Unicorn tails," answered Harry. The portrait swung open, leaving a hole behind it so all the students could go through. Once inside, Hermione told the first years which staircase the boys were supposed to climb to get to their dormitories and which one the girls were supposed to go, also. Everyone went to bed, leaving Harry, Ron, Hermione, Arlene, and Alex alone in the common room. "Well, good night," Ron said as he made his way towards the boys staircase. "Yeah. 'Night," said Harry, following him. "C'mon," said Hermione. "Follow me and I'll show you where you guys will sleep." She led them up the girls staircase and to a door that had a sign on it reading "6th Years". She opened it. Inside were Pavarti Patil and Lavander Brown roaming through their trunks for their pajamas. "Hi," they said. There was a mirror in the room, a couple of windows, and five four-poster beds. Three of them had stuff all over them. The other two had Arlenne's and Alex's stuff on their sides. The girls talked for a few more minutes before changing into their pajamas and going to sleep. Arlenne laid on her bed, the curtains closed around her, staring at the ceiling, wondering what would happen to her throughout this year in this school they called Hogwarts. She sighed inwardly, closing her eyes softly, and fell into a dreamless sleep.  
  
Chapter 2: Divination Fiasco  
  
Next morning they all woke up relatively at the same time. They got dressed and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville were already there going over their schedules. Ron was complaining loudly about something, which caused Lavender and Pavarti to give him a disapproving look. "What a great way to start school?" he was saying, sarcastically. "Look at this! A whole morning of double Divination the first day of school! It's an outrage!" "Yep," Harry muttered. "What's so bad about Divination?" Arlene asked, sitting down next to them. "Look, I have it next, too," she added as Ginny Weasley handed her and the other girls their schedules as well. "You'll see," said Ron. "Our teacher is a freak! She goes around pretending she can predict stuff when she's really and old kook," he added with emphasis on pretending. "She is not!" Pavarti said indignantly. "Professor Trelawney happens to be a great teacher." "Yeah. She's taught Pavarti and me how to use our inner eyes and gaze into the future," added Lavender. "Sure," Hermione muttered in a sarcastic tone. She then said to Harry and Ron, "As I've told you a hundred times, you should have dropped it like I did and stick with Arithmancy." "That's what I've got this morning," said Alex, looking down at her schedule. "And this afternoon we have Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Harry. Suddenly he looked up. "Hold on. I didn't see any new teacher yesterday at the feast. Did you guys see anyone?" They all shook their heads. "Wonder who it'll be this year?" he muttered. The bell rang five minutes later and they all made their ways to their classes. Harry, Ron, and Arlenne said bye to Hermione and Alex who headed for their Arithmancy class. They, on the other hand, made their way to North Tower to another lesson (Arlenne's first) of Divination. When they reached the classroom Arlenne could see why Harry and Ron didn't like that class. The room was so stuffy that they started sweating the minute they went in. Also, the fumes were so strong that all three of them coughed several times. The place had an eerie air about it. Arlenne really didn't like considering the fact that she despised when a room was so dimly lit in mid morning when the sun could be shining through its windows. She followed the two boys and sat with them in a table at the back of a classroom, near a window, which Harry slightly opened while Professor Trelawney wasn't looking. The latter one was another site. She strongly reminded Arlenne of an oversized mix between a mosquito and a grasshopper. She sat in an armchair by the fire. Once the whole class was in their places, she stood up and said in an exaggerated mystic voice, "Welcome, welcome, my dears, to a new year of learning to uncover the paths of the art of Divination. Ah. I see we have a new student with us. What's your name, my dear?" "Arlenne Delacour," she said. "Ah, yes, I saw someone who looked like you in my crystal ball over the summer coming into my classroom. Since then I have study you and the planets that you were born under." she kept blabbing on about that. Arlenne, with an eyebrow raised, stared oddly at her. "And by the results of my studies I have learned quite a few things about you, my dear. Isn't it true that you were born under Uranus? Your birth date, according to my calculations, is around the first few days of June, is it not?" Arlenne shook her head. "No. I was born in mid November." Harry and Ron both stifled back a laugh. "You're an only child, perhaps?" continued Professor Trelawney, looking slightly disappointed at her mistake. "No," Arlenne repeated. "You prefer to be around older people, maybe?" Professor Trelawney seemed determined not to give up. "Nope." "Are you sure?" "Yes, of course I am." "Well, moving on," Professor Trelawney appeared to have given up. She spent the rest of the class talking about zodiacs and how they were to study them throughout the semester. Arlenne was exceptionally glad when the bell rang and class was over. All throughout it the teacher kept coming back saying she knew this and that about her, but every time she was wrong. It was really annoying. When she said out loud to Ron and Harry what she thought of the situation Harry said, "I know what you mean. She's been predicting my death over and over again since I first had her three years ago." "That's a horrible thing to say. to anybody," she added, turning pink when Harry looked at her and smiled slightly. "I don't think I would've been able to put up with her for so long." "Lucky you," Ron muttered bitterly. "I'll see you guys in a few. I'm going to catch up with Hannah." Hannah Abbott had been his girlfriend since the previous year. He left them and went in the opposite direction. Harry and Arlenne kept going towards the great Hall.  
  
Chapter 3: Lord Voldemort Attacks  
  
They sat next to Hermione and Alex who were already eating. "How'd it go?" Alex asked Arlene as the latter one started filling her plate with food. "Horrible. That woman can really get someone pissed off. She kept going on how she knew stuff about me she had learned through crystal gazing. They all turned out to be false. She even said that I was born in June and that I was an only child." Alex almost choked on her mouthful of mashed potatoes, trying not to laugh. When she swallowed she said, "Well, clearly someone has to tell her otherwise and that our birthday is on November 13." "Yeah. As far as I know, I don't think we're related or know anybody whose birthday is in June, let alone ourselves." Once done eating, they talked a little more while waiting for the bell to ring. When it finally did every student stood up to leave. But at that moment the oak doors burst open and there stood Professor Dumbledore accompanied by a scared looking Professor McGonagall. All the students froze wondering why the serious looks on their teachers' faces. "Everyone, listen up!" said Professor Dumbledore. "Your afternoon classes have been cancelled due to a few problems we are having. You all are to return to your common rooms and stay there for what's rest of the day. Dinner will be brought to you. You may not leave your common room until your head of house shows up and tells you it is safe to leave. It may take days. Head Boy, Head Girl, and prefects stay here. The rest of you, off you go." The students left the Hall muttering to each other, wondering what had happened. Harry, Alex, Arlenne, Hermione, along with the other prefects plus the Head Boy and Girl stayed behind. "There has been another attack by Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore said, once the last of the students had gone out the wooden doors. A few people gasped. "It happened a few minutes ago in Hogsmeade. An entire family is dead. I want you all to be alert for anything unusual. You will all be on guard during the day. The teachers will help you. At night you will go to bed and the staff will take over your task. If you do notice something out of the ordinary please notify one of us as soon as possible. Do you all understand me?" They nodded. "Good. Now off you go to help patrol the corridors. And if you see any student who is out of their common room and they're not supposed to, send them back immediately. Now go." They all headed out, Harry, Arlenne, and Alex last. "You three," said Dumbledore. They stopped dead on their tracks. "I don't want you three to do that. Go back to Gryffindor Tower. I want you to stay there with the rest of the students." "Yes, Professor," said Alex. She was the first one to head out, followed by two reluctant Arlenne and Harry. The last two didn't want to go. They wanted to help, too. When they were half way to the Gryffindor common room, Alex, who was walking several yards ahead of the other two, came to a sudden halt with a shriek. Arlenne instantly dashed to where her sister was. "What's the matter?" she asked. Alex opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She just pointed forward, where, a few yards ahead, was a green snake looking darkly up at them. Harry had just caught up to them. "Don't worry, Alex," Arlenne was saying to her sister. "It can't hurt. I'm not going to let it do that." She glared at the snake, which moved a few inches towards them. "It's alright," she kept muttering over and over. "I'll get rid of it for you," she added. Harry was about to tell the snake to go away when he heard a hissing sound. Parseltongue. It said, "Disappear or I will set a mongoose on you." But it was coming from neither Harry nor the snake. "I mean it!" whoever it was added. Harry looked around to see from where it was coming from. His felt his jaw drop. It was. no, it couldn't be. but it was. Arlenne. "Go away you filthy thing or I will do as I said. I don't want to give you any trouble, but I will if you don't do as I say." "Go now!" Harry joined in. Arlenne looked at him with the same kind of amazement he had looked at her with. Obviously she had no idea he was a Parselmouth, too. The snake seemed to be heeding their warnings now because it disappeared out of site. Alex relaxed with a sigh of relief. "I hate snakes," she muttered. "Don't worry," Arlenne said reassuringly. "I'm not going to let one come near you while I'm still here." They kept walking towards the Gryffindor common room. "Password?" said the Fat Lady once they had reached her. "Unicorn tails," Harry said. The portrait hole swung open revealing a bunch of curious faces. They were met with questions like "What happened?" and "What's going on?" "Don't worry, guys," Harry said. "Just do as Dumbledore said." Alex said, "I think I'm going to take a nap." She left and went up the girls' staircase to her dorm. Harry looked around. Everyone seemed to be in the common (apart from Alex, of course). "Wait for me at the top of the girls' staircase," he muttered to Arlenne, who nodded, wondering why. She set off after her sister. Harry headed towards the boys'. He went up to his room, opened his trunk, and searched for his father's invisibility cloak. When he found it he wrapped it around himself and went back to the crowded common room. He had quite a job trying to make his way to the girls' staircase without bumping into anybody. Once he reached them he started climbing up. At the top was Arlenne. She was looking around as if trying to make sure no one was there eavesdropping. Before he reached her she muttered, "I didn't know you had an invisibility cloak," loud enough for only him to hear it. Harry stopped and looked at her openmouthed again. He was still wearing the cloak, and as he had climbed up the stairs he had made no noise whatsoever. Yet, she knew he was there and that he was wearing an invisibility cloak. He then realized what he was doing and, after closing his mouth, kept climbing up to her. "Let's go somewhere where we can talk and no one will hear," he whispered. He motioned for her to get inside the cloak and she did so. He led her even further into the girls' dormitories and Arlenne got the feeling that he had done this before. Finally they came upon a door. Looking around to make sure there wasn't anyone there, Harry opened it. It revealed a balcony about 15 feet square. It had a few benches and several decorating plants all around. They sat down on the nearest bench. There was an awkward silence. Then Harry said, "Could you. uh. explain to me what's going on." "Well, what exactly would you like me to explain to you?" Arlenne said deliberately, trying to avoid the subject. She didn't like to tell people what she knew Harry was about to ask her (or what he meant to ask her). "About you being a Parselmouth," he said. "I could ask you the same question," she replied, although she had already guessed how he had become one and her guess was pretty accurate. "Voldemort," he muttered, not remembering to say you-know-who in front of other people. But to his surprise she didn't make the slightest movement to indicate that she cared if he had said his name or not. She muttered something under her breath that sounded like, "I know." "What about you knowing I was there when I was invisible." "Pretty cool power, don't you think?" she said smiling. "Alex has it, too. I think pretty much everyone in my father's side of the family has it." "What do you mean?" "It's quite simple, really. We can see anything and everything that's invisible. Comes in handy a lot." "Oh. And the Parselmouth thing?" "That's a more complicated story. On that matter, I'm the only person in my family, who can do it, that I know of. But I wasn't born with it, though." "You weren't? Then how come you can do it?" "It's a long story," she said. At that moment Alex opened the door to the balcony and came outside followed by Ginny Weasley. "I didn't know there was a balcony up.. here." she stopped at the site of Arlenne and Harry under the cloak. They were staring straight at her, pleading that she wouldn't say they were there with their hand. They both had their reasons. Arlenne somehow got the feeling that Ginny had a huge crush on Harry and if she found out Harry and her were sitting so close together under the cloak (although doing nothing) she, Ginny, might go into a fit of jealousy or something. Harry, on the other hand, didn't want yet another person to know he had that cloak. He liked to keep it a secret. "Are you okay?" Ginny said, looking at Alex and then at the empty bench (she thought) Alex was staring at. "Yeah, I-I'm fine," Alex said, suddenly there was a mischievous grin that spread across her face. "Show other parts of Gryffindor tower, please." "Alright." They left. Arlenne and Harry looked at each other and shrugged.  
  
Chapter 4: The Fight and the Letter  
  
That evening way after the dinner had been brought up to them Arlenne went up to her room. She had been seated on her bed looking through a book she had just taken out of her trunk when Alex burst into the room. The mischievous grin had not left her face since she had seen Arlenne and Harry at the balcony. Arlenne looked up at her eager looking sister. "What's wrong with you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "What were you and Harry doing on that balcony cuddle up so close together?" she replied suspiciously. "I knew you never played many games when you set your sight on a guy, but I didn't know you were able to get one this fast." Arlenne gasped indignantly. She stood up, her face red, "For you information Harry and I weren't doing anything at all whatsoever. He was asking a few questions and we were under the cloak out there by ourselves because he wanted some privacy." "Sure you were." Alex said, clearly not believing a word Arlenne had said. "I mean it!" "I'm sure you do, sis." Alex still had the grin on her face. She walked towards the door, opened it, and with another "sure you do", closed it behind herself. Arlenne was furious. She hated it every time Alex did something like this, which was more often than you can imagine. Her eyes were bulging and her face was as red as a tomato. She returned the book to her trunk and suddenly discovered that something there was missing. She then blasted open Alex's and searched for it there. Meanwhile Alex had gone back to the common room. In there the only people remaining were Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione, who had just gotten back from the "patrol squad" and Ron was mockingly calling it. They all noticed that Alex looked very pleased with herself for some reason. Then suddenly they heard footsteps storming down the stairs. It was Arlenne. She seemed very angry and was holding what looked like a lilac colored tank top. "Why the he// was this in your trunk, you pile of sh*t!?" she half shouted at Alex. The latter turned around to face her. "Why the f*ck were you going through my stuff, jacka$$!?" "Because it wasn't in mine and who else would have taken it without permission but you, gay wad!" "Slut!" "Phagget!" "Tramp!" "Whore!" "Hoe!" "B*tch!" they shouted at each other in unison. For the next couple of seconds they glared at one another as if any moment they would jump on the other one and kill her. The other four just stared at the two of them. Then the most unexpected thing happened. Alex and Arlenne started laughing like a pair of morons. "Good ones," Alex was saying. "Maybe you'll win next time," Arlenne added. The others just stared at them oddly. Then, slowly, they joined in the laughter. But not before Arlenne and Alex (while still laughing) gave each other the finger. (It's crazy, I now.)  
  
Next morning Hermione had to go early again to reassume her post. Professor McGonagall still hadn't showed up, and no one knew anything of what was going on outside of Gryffindor Tower. Most of the Gryffindors had used the opportunity to sleep in late. Arlenne hadn't. She had awoken around 8:00am and once she had woken up she could never go back to sleep again till night. So she had gotten dressed and had gone down to the common room with a book, quill, parchment, and a bottle of ink. She planned to write a letter and when she was done read a book. When she reached the common room, however, she found out she wasn't the only one to be awake. Harry was seated on an armchair going over some papers. "'Morning," she said, apparently scaring him because he jumped up from his chair. "Hey," he said, sitting back down. "What are you doing?" "Going over plans for the first Quidditch practice." "Cool. Are you on the team?" "Yeah." "What position?" "Seeker and captain," he said, proudly. "I used to play for my old school. I played chaser and then seeker." "Really?" "Unh huh." "Cool. Why don't you think about trying out for chaser? We have all three positions open. Plus we need the two beaters." "You only have two people in the team so far?!" Arlenne said, astonished. "Yeah. The ones missing graduated last year." "God! When are you having try-outs? I'll be there." "In two weeks." "Okay. I'll be there." "Thanks." Then there was a tapping in the nearest window. They both looked up at it. There was a snowy white owl out side carrying a letter. "Hedwig," Harry thought at the same time Arlenne was thinking, "Lightning." He, who was the closest to the window, went and opened it. He expected the owl to sit on his shoulder once it was inside. But it went straight to Arlenne. She stroked it playfully. Just then Harry realized it wasn't Hedwig. It was another owl. This one had sparkling blue eyes, and Hedwig's were amber. "Hey, Lightning!" Arlenne said. "I was starting to worry about you. Do you have the reply?" The owl hooted. She untied the letter from its leg. He then flew towards a table that had crackers on it and ate some of them. Arlenne, meanwhile, opened the envelope, took out the letter, unfolded it, and started reading. Harry noticed her smile as she reached the end of it. "That's sweet," she muttered. She took the parchment, quill, and ink she had brought down with her and wrote letter back really quick then went back to Lightning with. "Do you think you could take this back, or do you need to rest for a while before going back?" The owl hooted loudly as if to say he was perfectly capable of taking the letter back. "Are you sure? It's a long journey." The owl hooted again. "Alright, alright. Here." She tied the letter to his leg, took him to the window, and there he took off. Arlenne then took the letter Lightning had brought and stared at it for a second before placing it into her pocket. "Whose was it from?" Harry asked, bringing her back from her daydreaming. "Oh, um, it was from my boyfriend, Shane. You know, back in Florida." "Oh," Harry said rather flatly. He returned to his plans. He was aware, however, that she was watching him. Arlenne stared at him, thoughtfully for a couple of seconds, then shook her head as if deciding against whatever it was she had been thinking about, and sat down and started reading her book. No sooner had she done this, however, had Harry interrupted her. "So, why were you and Alex fighting yesterday?" he asked while still reading notes he had made on Qudditch moves. Arlenne was thinking otherwise because his eyes weren't moving anywhere. "Because she took my favorite tank top from my trunk without asking for it. She knows perfectly well that I don't like it when she 'borrows' my clothes." "Oh. I thought it must've been for some other reason because most of the tower heard you shout something at her from your dormitory prior to the insult fight." He was now staring right up at her. "Oh. Um, that was because she's always being a brat, meddling in my business, and thinking stuff are like that when they are not." "What do you mean?" "Well, she came up stairs claiming that I was flirting with you from when, you know, she found us up in the balcony. Said we were looking very cozy cuddled up together." She blushed at this and Harry felt his face heating up, too. "But that's exactly her problem. She can't see me talking to a guy without saying that I was making a move on him or flirting or that I like him. That's not true, of course. Besides, if I'm going out with someone, I don't cheat on him with someone else. That's way below my standards." "Oh." Harry turned back to his plans and Arlenne to her book.  
  
Chapter 5: The Sirens  
  
About a week passed and McGonagall still hadn't showed up in Gryffindor Tower, not even to give them news on what was going on outside the warm common room. Harry, Ron, Arlenne, and Alex tried to persuade Hermione into telling them what was going on, but she wouldn't say, her excuse being that she was not allowed to. After the first few days they had given up hope on her spilling the beans. The atmosphere had gone from normal to dark. Everyone was starting to get suspicious on the situation because they had not been informed of anything. Finally, on Monday morning, McGonagall, accompanied by Hermione, appeared through the portrait hole. Everyone had gone quiet and the only sound to be heard was that of Neville's toad, Trevor, croaking. "Everything is alright now," said McGonagall slowly. "It is safe for you all to reassume your classes today. Go get your bags and head directly for the class you are supposed to have at this moment." No one moved. "Well? What are you waiting for? Off you go. C'mon, now!" she barked at them, who immediately went upstairs to get their stuff and one by one filed out the portrait hole to their classes muttering among themselves about the strange happenings at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Arlenne headed for North Tower dreading another lesson from Professor Trelawney. Most of their classmates were already there. The classroom was even steamier than usual. Apparently because since there had been no classes the trap door had been opened less and therefore stopping fresh air from sneaking in. Once more, they made their way to the back of the classroom where they sat on the table closest to the window. The lesson went by so slow that Arlenne thought it would never end. But finally the bell to lunch rang and they greeted it gratefully. They rushed back to the Great Hall. Once there they started filling their plates as they waited for Hermione and Alex who hadn't arrived yet. They didn't show up at all throughout lunch. When there was only ten minutes to the next bell Arlenne said, "I wouldn't be surprised if Alex dragged Hermione to the library to research some assignment." "I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happened vise versa," said Ron, dully. "I agree," said Harry, playing with a cracker in his hand. It turned out just as they had predicted. They had indeed been in the library gathering information for a homework assignment.  
  
The weeks passed and everything seemed to be back to normal at Hogwarts. Everyone had to go back to their classes as usual ("Unfortunately," Ron had said). And life was pretty much regular again throughout the school. Even Dumbledore seemed to be sure that everything was back to normal because a note had been posted in the Gryffindor common room that the first Hogsmeade visit would be in three weeks (What's a Hogsmeade?" Alex and Arlenne had chorused). Every student in the third year and above was very excited about this. The visit to the village was very welcome after a whole week of imprisonment in their houses without being able to get out at least once. The weeks passed by faster than they had expected, but no one was complaining. It was the Friday before the visit to Hogsmeade. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Arlenne, and Alex were going back to Gryffindor Tower from dinner. "I didn't see it coming, honestly I didn't," Ron was saying. "It's okay, Ron," said Alex. "You're bound to find someone better," she said with a weak smile.  
Hannah Abbot had just dumped him. He was a little upset. "I still wonder what I did wrong," he muttered. "I mean, I really liked her. I don't why she had to break up with me." "C'mon, Ron. You weren't expecting to be with her forever, were you?" Harry said. "No. But I wasn't expecting to break up so soon either." "Well, you must have done something," Hermione said. "Either that or she likes someone else," she added. "Gee, Hermione, that makes me a feel a whole lot better," said Ron, sarcastically. They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Password?" "Unicorn tails," Arlenne said. She sort of surprised the others by speaking up because she had been quiet ever since Lightning had gotten back with a reply from her boyfriend in the morning. The portrait opened, revealing the hole through which they climbed to enter the common room. Inside she went over to a corner by herself, unnoticed by the others because they kept discussing Hannah and Ron. Harry, however, did see her going to the corner. She looked sad and depressed. He left the other three, who were just joined by Ginny, and walked where Arlenne was, and sat down next to her. She didn't seem to notice his presence, though. She was clutching something under cloak and staring into space. "I thought it'd be different, you know," she said, letting Harry know that she knew he was there. "What?" he asked. "Who or what left you like this?" he asked. He wanted the Arlenne he had met back. The enthusiastic, out going, and out spoken Arlenne he had come to know in only a month time. "I thought he was different from all the other idiots. I never expected this from him. Why didn't he just come clean in the first place? Why did he have to go and do that?" she said, still staring into space. A tear rolled down her cheek. "Who did what to you?" Arlenne stood up. She motioned for him to follow her out the portrait hole. He was wondering where they were going. Then he saw. They stopped in front of a statue. It was the statue of the humped back, one eyed witch that led to the entrance of the passage to Hogsmeade. Harry was asking himself why Arlenne had led him there when she took out her wand, tapped it, and whispered the word, "Dissendium!" Astonished though he was, Harry followed Arlenne into the passage when witch's hump opened. It closed behind them, leaving the both of them in complete darkness. "Lumos," Arlenne said, thus light came from the tip of her wand. She then took out what she had been clutching inside her pocket. It looked like a TV the size of the palm of a person's hand. "Do you know what this is, Harry?" He shook his head. "It's a Televiewer. They are something close of a muggle TV that shows stuff recorded on it except you don't need a cassette to do so. Just watch it. It's self explanatory." She gave it to him, but not before she had pushed a tiny little button in the right hand bottom corner. Harry stared at it just as if he were watching any normal movie on a VCR and TV. First it showed a girl with blond hair and blue eyes. "Hey gurl! Wazzzup? I hope you're having a great time in whatever school you're in now." Suddenly she looked stern. "Arlenne, I have some very bad news to tell you," she said grimly. "I'm sorry, but you have to watch this. It's about Shane and, um," the girl hesitated. "And Serenity." The image changed. It them showed two people on a couch looking very cozy. First they were flirting and giggling with each other. Then their lips met and they were making out. The girl had dirty blond hair and hazel eyes. She was slim and pretty, but had a rather malicious looking aspect as though everything around her was somehow connected to something evil. The guy also had dirty blond hair and eyes the color of a mixture between green and blue. He was very handsome and muscular built. As he watched, Harry heard Arlenne let out a sob. He gave her an understanding look. Then he looked back into the Televiewer, which had changed back to the blond, blue-eyed girl. "You see?" She suddenly looked kind of angry. "I told you he was a waste of time. You should have never fallen for Shane. I told you perfectly well the type of guy he was. But you wouldn't listen. I warned you! I said too you that it was all too perfect to be true. And this is how it ended. Now, heed the piece of advise I'm going to give you. Stay away from people like him and listen to your friends and family! They know what's best for you because they care about you!" The video ended and the screen went black. Harry handed it back to Arlenne who was now crying quietly. She stared at it for a second and then thrust it against the stone wall where it shattered into pieces. She kept crying. Harry, not knowing what to do, did the first thing he could think of and hugged her tightly. She kept crying on his shoulder for at least ten minutes. "It's alright," he kept muttering to her. "Don't cry. Guys like him are not worth your tears. It'll pass. You'll see." But Arlenne kept crying like she hadn't done in years. She had the right to do so. But she wasn't crying only because of Shane. Oh no. She was crying because of many other things she had experienced in her life. As she cried, for some reason, she felt safe in Harry's arms. She somehow knew that she could trust him with anything. The strong desire to stay in his arms forever was trying to overpower her. But just then she stopped crying and looked up at him. He was staring down at her with warmth in his eyes. She had just noticed those brilliantly shining, emerald green eyes. She liked the way they were looking at her. She liked the intensity she found in them. It was like falling into a sea of green. Swimming in its waters, enjoying it. Just then, right at that instant, she knew. Nothing no one ever said could change her mind about it. She was dead sure and nothing would ever convince her otherwise. "Thanks, Harry," Arlenne said, breaking away from her momentarily trance. "Hey, what are friends for?" Friends, she thought. Why that? But then she shook off the thought. "Thanks, anyways." "No prob. Just answer me this. You say you've never been to Hogwarts. But, then, how did you know about this secret passage?" "Well, that's because you're not the only person here whose mom went to this school." "You mean your mo-" "Exactly. When she died, one of the things she left Alex and me was this." She took out a piece of parchment from her robes. It looked really old. If it wasn't because Harry had it in his own pocket, he would have sworn that was the Marauders' Map. She tapped it with her wand and said, "I solemnly swear that I will do no good." This parchment did exactly the same thing the Marauders' Map did when it was revealing itself. But it didn't show the same names at the top or the same introduction. Instead it read:  
  
Lily, Rose, Jade, and Violet,  
The four most attractive troublemakers  
Hogwarts has ever seen give to you,  
  
THE SIREN'S MAP  
  
Harry realized that it was just a replica of the Marauders' Map, but the "Sirens" made it. He couldn't, however, help notice the name Lily at the top. "So, you, see," Arlenne went on to say. "I know this school by heart. Oh, Jade's my mother," she added when she saw Harry's eyes dart to the names at the top.  
  
Chapter 6: The Cave Meeting  
  
The following morning everyone got up early. They were all very excited about the visit to Hogsmeade that most of them were seated in the Great Hall having breakfast by 8:30. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Alex, and Arlenne, who were all joined by Dean Thomas who seemed to have a great liking for Alex. "So, where do you reckon we should go first today?" Ron asked while putting butter on his toast. "Dunno," Harry said dully. "How about you guys show me the entire place," suggested Arlenne. "Okay. Sure," Harry agreed. "You guys go on without me," said Ron. "I'm going to do a bit of babe hunting." Arlenne giggled. "Starting now, by the way," he added, standing up, and leaving them. Hermione, too, left to get her money bag and Alex went with her, hoping to avoid Dean a little since he was technically stalking her now. A rush of wings announced he arrival of the mail. Hedwig, whom Arlenne had not seen before, was the only white to be seen in the mass of gray and brown. At first, she made the same mistake Harry had by thinking that was her own owl, but then she realized it was not. Hedwig landed right in front of them. She stuck out her leg so Harry could get the letter she was carrying, and, before leaving, took some bacon from his plate. Harry opened the letter rather quickly, in an anxious sort of way. He read it and pocketed it right after. Arlenne was about to ask who it was from, but instinct told her not to and she decided against it.  
  
An hour later she, Harry, Alex, and Hermione were walking around the streets of Hogsmeade (Ron hadn't turned up since breakfast). Harry and Hermione were doing their best to show the other two around. The tour of the place was almost finished. It was to end at the Three Broomsticks. They were just in a bookshop right next to the pub. Alex and Hermione were taking way too long checking out almost every book in the entire store. "C'mon!" Harry urged them. "You have the whole day to look at the stupid books. Hermione!" but she ignored him. "Okay. Fine. I'll just go on showing Arlenne the Three Broomsticks. But I only have a few minutes. I have to go meet Snuffles at one o'clock." At this Hermione actually replied. "Oh," she said. "Just go on, then. We'll be right with you." Harry and Arlenne left the store with Harry muttering under his breath something that sounded like, "Bookworm." Arlenne laughed. They reached the pub, but before they had entered it Harry stopped suddenly. "What's the hold up?" Arlenne said, turning around. She saw why Harry had stopped then. Pulling his robes was a big, shaggy black dog. He had to be the biggest dog she'd ever seen. "Hey," Harry was saying to him. "Long time no see." "Aw. What a cute doggy," Arlenne said. She was going to say "little doggy" but that dog was nowhere near little. Harry snorted. "Look, she likes you," he said to Sirius, teasingly. Sirius, however, had not paid attention to Harry. He had let go of his robes and was staring intently at Arlenne. And then, to both Harry's and Arlenne's surprise, he started pulling her robes. "I guess he wants us to follow him," she mused. "Best go," Harry muttered. The dog, still pulling her robes, led them out of the village to a hill. After quite a few minutes of climbing a cave entrance came into view a few yards ahead. The dog led them into it. Inside it was a hippogriff. Arlenne looked at Harry quizzically. They both bowed. The hippogriff bowed back. "Hello, Buckbeak," Harry said, pat him. Arlenne, too, patted him. "Harry, what's going on?" she asked suspiciously. She turned to where the dog was to face him once more. Except there was no dog. What she saw caused her to give a start. There stood a filthy looking wizard with long black hair and dark gray robes. Arlenne shrank back. Just seeing him appear just like that scared her. But she got even more scared when she recognized him. "What's going on?" she repeated, amazed at the firmness in her voice because she was dead scared. "Sirius, why did you bring her up here?" Harry asked. Arlenne stared at him in shock. "Nice seeing you, too, Harry," Sirius said. "You don't have to be scared. I'm a not criminal like everyone thinks I am," he added to Arlenne. She didn't know why, but she believed him. But it wasn't till Harry said it was okay that she completely let her guard down. "Why did you bring her up here?" Harry said again. "Because she looks familiar somehow," Sirius said, still staring at her. "It's like I've met you before, but I've never seen you in my entire life." "I doubt we've met," she said. "I would've remembered." Sirius nodded. "You have to be related to Jade Hastings, aren't you?" Arlenne's eyes widened. "I-I'm her daughter," she replied. "I thought you were. You look a lot like your mother." "You knew her?" "Knew her? We used to date when we were in school." Harry shuddered. He had a sudden vision of Sirius making out with an older version of Arlenne. He had never imagined his Godfather dating anyone before, let alone kissing. He had never given it much thought. "You did?" "Yep." "Could you--? Oh, never mind." "What? Tell me. "Nothing. Forget about it." "No, really. Tell me." Okay. Could you tell me about this?" she took out the Sirens' Map. That wasn't really what she wanted to ask in the first place, but she didn't want to ask that in front of Harry. It was her secret and she had the right to keep it quiet if she wanted to. "Is that the Marauders' Map or the Sirens'?" Sirius asked, a small smile on his face. "Oh, you knew about the second map, too?" Harry said, astonished at his ignorance. "Of course." "So, who made the first one?" Harry said, hoping to learn a bit more. "Us," Sirius said matter-of-factly. "We knew the girls were up to something. They knew we had that map as out secret treasure. They didn't exactly know what the map was of, though. We warned each other against them. But then James screwed up." He laughed. "We chased him around the school for almost an entire week afterwards trying to kill him, but in the end we forgave him. It was more because McGonagall said that if we kept running around the corridors every minute she would expel us all." "Why where you trying to kill dad? How did he screw up?" Harry asked, trying not to laugh at the story. After all, it was his father's life that had been at stake there. "Your mom could always get him to do whatever she wanted him to do for her. So one night she convinced him of showing her our map and the idiot did it. Now, Lily was the smartest girl in all of Hogwarts. I swear she had a photographic memory. She instantly figured out how we had made the map. The next day the girls had a map exactly the same as ours, which took us almost a year to complete. I remember Jade rubbing it in my face because I didn't show her ours when she asked me if she could take a look at it." "Sounds like someone I know," Harry said, winking at Arlenne, who went pink and smiled. "That was about twenty years ago," Sirius went on. "yes, that was when we were all in the same year as you both. The year after we broke up but we stayed good friends. Then we graduated. I remember James proposing to Lily at the graduation party. She was speechless all she could do was nod. Then we all got jobs at the Ministry. That's were Jade met your father," he said to Arlenne. "I never knew much about him except that he was French." Harry stared at Arlenne, who nodded looked back at him with a small smile and said, "Oui." "Louis Delacour. He must've been something because they were married four months after they had started going out. And let me tell you, Jade wasn't the type of girl who'd get serious about a relationship after only a few months. Oh no. She wouldn't do that until she had been with that person for at least six months or so. "Right after they were married she got pregnant two times. She wrote to me to tell me the good news. She seemed very excited about becoming a mother. She adored hers and she wanted to be just as good at being one. The second time was a few months after Lily was pregnant with Harry. "Tell me, how are your sisters?" "Fine, I suppose." "Harry was trying to make sure he understood right. He was sure he had heard Sirius say "sisters" instead of "sister". As far as he knew, Arlenne only had one. "If I remember correctly your names were Alice, Alexandria, and Arlenne, aren't they?" "Yeah." "Yeah. Those were her favorite girl names. She told me once that when she had kids all of their names would start with the letter A. She also specifically told me that if she ever named one of her daughters Arlenne, it would be with two n's instead of one as the name is supposed to be." "Yep. That extra n has given me a lot of trouble because people always write my name with one only and it makes me mad." "Ah. You're Arlenne. I see." His eyes darted towards her neck quickly and went back to staring at the ground as he had been doing before. "Oh, crap! He knows," Arlenne said to herself when she saw how Sirius had stared at her neck for a sec there. "So, where are Alex and Alice?" "Well, Alex is in the village. And Alice." her voice would no longer come out of her mouth. "I- we- haven't seen her in years." "Why not?" Sirius asked. "After mom and dad were m-" she was about to say murdered, but stopped herself. "When they died, we all went to stay with our grandmother in France. But after about eight years she died, too. So we were sent to live with our uncles in America. Once there she ran away. We haven't seen her since then." "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Sirius said, genuinely looking sad. "Do you still have that medallion of your father's?" he said, purposely changing the subject. "Yeah. Right here. I never take it off." She showed them a golden medallion the size of a cookie that was hanging from their neck. It had an emerald in the center of it and a inscriptions in the back that were in an unknown ancient language. "That thing has quite a story," Sirius said, still staring at it. "Indeed," Arlenne agreed thoughtfully as she placed it inside her robes again. "What is it?" asked Harry, inquiringly. "The curiosity killed the cat, Harry. Remember that," Sirius said to him. Harry scowled at him. Arlenne was grateful that Sirius hadn't started telling him the entire story. "Do you know how my parents died?" she asked, already guessing what his answer would be. "Of course. I would be surprised if you didn't." "I do. I was just wondering if you did." "Yes, I do." His eyes, once again, darted towards her neck and back. "I'm very sorry about it." "You're one of the few people that know," Arlenne said thoughtfully once more. "You also know what happened to me afterwards, right?" "Yes, I do," Sirius repeated. "Don't tell anyone, please. I don't like to let, er, my secret out." "Why not? It's certainly nothing to ashamed about, now is it?" "Of course not. I just don't want people to know. I do not wish to have-" she stopped when a voice called a "Hello" throughout the cave from the entrance. "Hermione!" Harry and Arlenne exclaimed in unison. But Hermione wasn't alone. She was followed by Ron. "Arlenne!" they said at the same time. "Hi," all of the chorused, Then they laughed. "What are you doing up here?" Ron asked. "I led her up here," Sirius poke up for the first time since Ron's and Hermione's arrival. "Oh." "You all better go back to Hogwarts. We'll meet here again on your next visit, alright? And, Harry, write to me whenever something unusual happens. You heard about Voldemort's attack here in Hogsmeade, right?" They nodded. "You better be on your guards. He's trying to slowly make his way up to Hogwarts. Especially you, Harry. And you, too," he said to Arlenne, who felt all eyes on herself. "You're in as much danger as Harry is. Oh, yeah, don't tell anyone about me being here." "Yeah. I- I kinda got that since you transformed," she said dully. "Okay. See ya, Sirius," Harry said waving as he went outside of the cave. "Yeah, bye! And thanks for the 411 on my mom," Arlenne said, smiling. "The what?" "The info. you know, the information." "Oh." "Bye Sirius," Hermione said as she followed the other two trying not to giggle. "See ya," said Ron.  
  
Back at Hogwarts.  
  
"So, you and Snuffles know each other?" Hermione asked Arlenne. The both of them, not being hungry, stayed in the common room while everyone else was in the Great Hall having dinner. "Sort of. He knew my mother. Said he knew I was related to her when he saw me because I look like her." "Oh. Really?" "Yeah. From when they went to school together. I had no idea. Thanks to him I know a few more things about mom I didn't know before. From what I gather she was quite the trouble maker." They laughed. "Cool. So, um, you and Harry seem to get along pretty good, right? Are you two like. you know.?" "Oh. Oh. No. We're just friends. No more than that." She wished it was the opposite, though. She had realized just the day before, while being in that secret passage with Harry, when she had stared into his eyes, just that one moment, she knew she loved him. It wasn't just one of those silly teenage crushes. Hers was real love. And she knew it, her heart knew it. "Would you mind if I asked you a question?" Hermione said, interrupting Arlenne's train of thoughts. "You already did," Arlenne said with a smile. "But go ahead and ask me another one.' "You like Harry, don't you?" Hermione said with a twinkle in her eyes. Arlenne's smile faded almost instantly. "Well, what you have to understand about that is-" "Just answer me yes or no." "Arlenne hesitated. "Yes." "Yes what?" came Harry's voice from the portrait hole. "Yes. I do like. Quidditch!" Arlenne said hastily. She was hinting Hermione to follow along. Hermione got her cue. "Yeah. I was just asking her if she liked the sport," she lied. "Who wouldn't?!" Harry said as though it would be an outrage or a scandal. "Yes, um, exactly. Right, Hermione?" "Indeed," Hermione said slowly.  
  
Chapter 7: Misery  
  
Three weeks passed with nothing interesting happening. Then on a Sunday morning, two weeks before Halloween, a notice was posted in the Gryffindor common room. Everyone who had read it seemed excited in different ways. It said:  
  
ATTENTION GRYFFINDORS!  
  
The faculty and staff he decided upon giving a Halloween Ball on Halloween night. Only students in the fourth year or above are permitted to attend. However, if you are under this range and are asked to the ball by a student who is, you may go. Please note that you are to wear a costume since it is Halloween. The Ball will start at 7:00 PM and will go on until midnight. Musical guest will be the Weird Sisters. We hope you enjoy it.  
  
That morning Hermione, Arlenne, Alex, Lavender, and Pavarti were the first students to read it. They immediately started chatting lively about it in delight. Lavender and Pavarti left for breakfast leaving the other three still discussing it. As they did so, many people started coming down to the common room, too. They were making a lot of noise when they all read the notice. Everyone was talking excitedly. As they did so all five of the 6th year boys came down stairs. "What's all the fuzz about?" Ron asked when they were standing next to the girls. "That," Alex said, pointing at the bulletin board were the message was posted. The guys went to read it. They all returned with their faces as white as chalk. Now they all had to go to the trouble of asking a girl to go with them. The first person to pop into Harry's mind was Cho Chang. She was almost instantly removed by an image of Arlenne, who, in his mind, was giving him one of her usual sweet smiles. Harry tried to shake off the thought of her and it worked. Cho was back inside his head. He thought about it all throughout breakfast. He couldn't ask Cho to the Ball. He still had dignity. After all, she had been Cedric Diggory's girlfriend. But, if she asked him, that would be a completely different story. He had to make himself look available to her, but not needy. And that was exactly what he did for the next week. Arlenne, who was always hanging out with him, noticed exactly what he was up to the very next day (Monday). Although it broke her heart, she decided it best if she stayed out of his way. She changed her usual routine of walking with him and Ron to all the classes they had together so that if Cho wanted to ask him the Ball he wouldn't be accompanied by a girl. She avoided having to walk next to him. One time she saw him literally wait outside one of Cho's classrooms until she came out to talk to her with excuse of wanting to talk to her about a Qudditch move for Seekers. With that he walked her to the Great Hall. Arlenne had been returning from the library to where she had gone to get a few books to read and try to get her mind off of him when she saw this. Her eyes had filled with tears. She held them there long enough for her to dart to the Gryffindor Girls' Dormitories. She went up to her room, dropped the books onto the floor, pulled the curtains around her bed, and started crying into her pillow. She cried for at least an hour and half, quietly, but hard. Then she heard footsteps and stopped crying. She pretended to be asleep, carefully hiding her face so if anyone looked to see if she was actually asleep they wouldn't see how red it was from crying. The voices continued to talk loudly, and then they dropped. The door opened and she figured whom they belonged to. It was Alex and Hermione. "I don't know why she wasn't at dinner. It's not like her to miss a meal without telling me before why she wasn't going to be there," Alex was saying. "Arlenne, are you here?" Hermione's voice sounded worried. "I think she's asleep in her bed." Arlenne heard footsteps coming closer. "Yeah, she is," she heard Alex say right above her head. "Strange," she then added. They both sat on Alex's bed. "She's been acting different. Something's going on with her," her voice was now barely a whisper. They seemed to be trying not to wake her up. "What do you mean?" "It's like she hasn't been herself lately. She's been unusually quiet. And every time I see her she looks sad and depressed. The last time I saw her smile was on Sunday. I haven't seen her do so since then. She's normally always smiling and this is the fourth day in a row." "It's strange, indeed." "Yeah."  
  
On Thursday, the next day, there were only eight days left till the Ball. Arlenne had not closed her eyes since she had pretended to be asleep. She had just laid there on her bed listening to the others gradually come up to bed, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. After everyone was asleep it had started raining and that was all she heard, the sound of the water splashing against the walls and rooftops of the castle. She got up when it wasn't even three o'clock. As quietly as possible, she made her way through the darkness towards the common room. Once down there she lit the fire to keep warm and made a blanket appear out of thin air with her wand. She wrapped the blanked around herself and sat on the couch nearest to the fire. She did nothing but stare into the merrily crackling flames. Eventually she fell asleep. Arlenne didn't wake up till she felt someone shaking her slightly. Her eyes popped open to find Harry's staring down at her. "Good morning," he said, brightly with a smile, which Arlenne, for the first time ever, did not return. "How come you were sleeping here?" "What time is it?" she asked. "6:15am." She took out her wand and made the blanket vanish. Then she left for her dormitory. Once there, she got changed noiselessly and returned downstairs. Harry was still there. Now he was the one staring at the fire, looking deep in thought. Arlenne, not wanting to bother or talk to him, headed strait for the exit. "Are you going to breakfast?" Harry said, his head not moving in the slightest. "No. Library." "What is it with you and the library lately. You've practically lived there for most of the week." "I have nothing better to do," Arlenne answered calmly. "What do you mean?" "I mean that I have nothing to do," she repeated "Well, you didn't used to have anything else to do before, but you would still hang out with me and Ron." "Gee, sorry, Harry," she said sarcastically. "And here I thought I was doing you a favor by not hanging out with you anymore. Now that I don't you look way more available to Cho Chang." She sounded slightly hurt. With that she stormed out of the common room, leaving Harry to stare after her. Arlenne rushed towards the library. She had the need to cry her eyes out, but she wouldn't allow herself to do so. "You're not going to cry for him! He's not worth your tears!" she kept saying to herself. "No living guy's worth it!" Once in the library she took the thickest Transfiguration book she could find from its shelf and occupied herself in it. It was around 6:50 in the morning. About half an hour of reading later she heard someone clear their throat behind her. Arlenne took no notice of this. The person cleared their throat again. This time it worked because Arlenne looked up to see who was bothering her. She found herself facing the very person she was least expecting to see there; Cho Chang. "Hello," Cho said. "Arlenne, right?" Arlenne nodded. "Cho Chang," Cho said while sitting down next to the other girl. Arlenne wanted to say, "I know who you are," but instead said, "Nice to meet you," in a false, yet convincing, warm voice. "I know that you're probably wondering why a complete stranger is talking to you, right?" This was true. "But I, uh, I wanted to ask you something." "Yes?" "Are you and Harry Potter, um, dating or something?" Cho seemed very uneasy at asking this. "No. There's absolutely nothing going on between me and him," she replied. "There will never be anything, either," she added firmly to herself. "Oh." "Why?" Arlenne asked, though already guessing. "Nothing important," Cho said with a smile, her awkwardness gone. "I was debating with myself if I should ask him to be my date at the Ball. I wanted to make sure first that he wasn't going with anyone else. That way I won't make a fool out of myself if he is." "Oh." "So, do you know if he is going with anyone else?" "I don't know. I haven't talked to him much since Monday. I've been very busy." Arlenne knew perfectly well that he wasn't, but she wasn't going to tell the enemy that the coast was clear, was she? What would you have done? "Oh. Okay. Thanks for the information." She left.  
  
Later that day.  
  
After lunch, the Gryffindors had Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. At the end of class, just before the bell rang, Arlenne and Justin Finch-Fletchley accidentally spilled the Bubotuber pus they had used during class onto the floor. And so they had to stay behind to clean while the others headed to dinner. She didn't know about Justin, but this was exactly what Arlenne wanted. It was an excuse to stay behind and not have to walk to dinner with Harry and the others. When they were done cleaning it, the both of them headed up to the castle together. "So," he said. "The word around the school is that you and Harry aren't going to the ball together." "The word travels fast around here," she muttered under her breath. This was because Justin hadn't been the only guy from another house to say the exact same thing. In fact, since after breakfast everywhere she went she could sense people whispering behind her back about it. Everyone assumed that they were going to go together and she wondered why. Many times that day a guy had come up to her when she was alone and had said that. They all had the intention of asking her to the ball, but she managed to find some excuse to leave before any of them could pop the question. Among them were Ernie Macmillan, Jason O'Reilly, a Ravenclaw 6th year, Chris Nott, a Slytherin (this surprised her), Josh Madison, another Ravenclaw 6th year, Gage Smith, a Hufflepuff 7th year, a few others, and even guys in the third, fourth, and fifth year. Right now she was walking alone with Justin in the middle of the Hogwarts grounds with no excuse in her mind and nowhere to run to. But, then again, she didn't want to run this time. She wanted to stay there. She actually liked Justin. Maybe not as much as Harry, but she really liked him. He was always nice and polite to her and to everyone else. She liked guys like that. Besides, he was the definition of hot. "So, um," se seemed nervous. "Are you, like, going with anyone else?" "So far, no one," Arlenne said, trying to conceal a smile that was fightning to take over her face. "Do you- do y-you wa-want to g-go to the b-ball w-with me?" he stuttered. The smile won the fight. She grinned from ear to ear owing to how nervous Justin was that he had stuttered so much. He had never done so before. It was also the first time she had smiled in days. "Of course," she said. "Really? I mean, that's cool. I'll meet you at the Entrance Hall the night of the ball." "Alright. See ya then." They reached the Great Hall and parted as they went to sit at their house tables. Arlenne, after sitting down next to Alex and across from Harry (that was the furthest away she could get from him), got a glimpse of Justin telling Ernie Macmillan and the rest of his friends something at their table. She had the feeling he was recounting what had just happened. When he was done, they all straightened up continued eating their dinner. Justin caught Arlenne's eyes and beamed at her, who smiled back. Then they returned to their food. Both Harry and Alex had noticed Arlenne smile at someone and quickly searched the crowd trying to figure out who, but could not. 


End file.
